You may or may not know, but Keanu Reeves trains pretty seriously in 3-Gun for his roles in John Wick. So what is 3-Gun? It is a shooting sport involving handgun, rifle and shotgun. Here is footage of Keanu Reeves training for John Wick 2, utilizing 3-Gun:

Pretty impressive stuff right? But what’s with the shotgun?

I am, to be right up front about it, not a fan of 3-Gun. Yes, there are some good things about it, but overall I think it teaches bad tactical habits, and I really don’t get the whole shotgun thing. I am more of a fan of 2-Gun as a competition; we are going to be bringing Outlaw 2-Gun into our TacGun competitive offerings, more on that to follow.

With 2-Gun (AR rifle and handgun), you can carry both weapons and transition between then as appropriate. You can move and transition tactically, just the same as you do with other TacGun tactical training. With 3-Gun, competitors end up sticking the long guns in Blue Barrels between stages. They also spend a deal of time walking around reloading the shotguns that they use.

So, Keanu Reeves trains 3-Gun in preparation for making John Wick 2. He also does the whole shotgun thing. How does that get written into the movie, and what impact does it have?

Here is John Wick shopping for his killing spree in the catacombs. He gets a route and keys, he gets a bullet proof suit, and he gets some weapons delivered to his room, which he later prepositions in the catacombs on the way to his assassination target. So, Glock and M4: nice! Benelli semi-auto shotgun? Why? Because 3-Gun, that’s why!

And what is the result of that weapon choice, on his exfil from target? Below:

Up to 2:19, he is doing really well, with his handgun and M4. Then he puts the shotgun belt on and grabs the Benelli: not so good after that. Why not have a resupply of M4 mags ready to go in place of the shotgun? Why, because 3-Gun, that’s why!